1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus that may employ electrical stimulation and/or hot/cold compresses, among other things, for alleviating pain due to abnormalities associated with, but not limited to, body weight, internal organs, muscles and various spinal infractions, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for implementing ambulatory spinal unloading.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traction has long been the treatment of choice for alleviating pain due to certain bodily abnormalities associated with, but not necessarily limited to, internal organs, muscles, body and various spinal infractions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,579 B1, entitled Traction Garment, issued Jun. 15, 2004 to Schroder, for example, discloses a non-stationary or ambulatory traction garment that includes a plurality of tension spreaders to provide injury-specific traction while restricting unwanted and potentially injurious motions.
Other U.S. patents, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,904, issued Jan. 6, 1998 to Dunfee; U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,993, issued Mar. 10, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,628, issued Sep. 14, 1999 to Dunfee, the inventor of the present invention, each disclose use of an ambulatory, wearable support for applying an extending force or traction to a portion of the human anatomy while being worn. These wearable supports employ a plurality of extender sets having at least one selectively inflatable bladder.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,689,082 B2, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,767 B2, issued Feb. 10, 2004 and Aug. 17, 2004 respectively to Reinecke et al., disclose an ambulatory traction device that employs one or more lifting mechanisms configured to apply a decompressive force to a portion of a user's body when positioned around the user's body.
A flexible fluidic force generator capable of applying both an extending (traction) force and a compressive force to a portion of the human anatomy while being worn is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,602 B1, entitled Flexible Fluidic Force Generator, issued May 29, 2001, to Nickels et al.
While all of the devices described herein above have provided some advances in the field of ambulatory traction devices, they remain deficient in providing an effective residual spinal cushioning or spinal unloading condition, in the absence of a biased tensioning and/or compressive force.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable and advantageous in the art to provide a method and apparatus for implementing ambulatory spinal unloading, even in the absence of a biased tensile or traction force to those areas to relieve a portion of the compressive load on the spine to alleviate pain, and to optionally allow proper healing of bodily injuries. It would be further advantageous if the method and apparatus could employ embedded electrodes to deliver electrical stimulation in like fashion to known transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) that are readily available in the market place.